Automobile floor



Sept 233, E939. w C, KEYS ET AL AUTQMOBILE FLOOR Filed Des, 28, 1928Patented Sept. 23, 1930 UNITED STATES vPATENT oFFlcE WALTER C. KEYS, OFDETROIT, MICHIGAN, AND ARTHUR J. BROWN, OIF-LAKEWOOD.,

OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE MECHANICAL RUBBER COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY AUTOMOBILE FLOOR Applieationrnled December28, 1928. vSerial No. 328,893.

This invention relatesto a n ew and improved looring, moreparticularlyflooring adapted for use in automobiles.

In the usual construction of automobile 5 ioors a number of'wood boardscut to proper shape and provided with apertures adapted to accommodatethe operating mechanism of the automobile for the driver s compartmentare fastened to the frame of the car'with the edges 'of the boards inproximity so as to provide a substantially complete floor for. theautomobile. It has been customary to cover this wooden floor with asuitable protective material usually of a type which will 'not bedestroyed, discolored or otherwise marred by use or by the action ofcorrosive agentsand which may be readily" cleaned or washed so as toregain its original appearance. A satisfactory material for this purposeis vulcan- 20 ized rubber and floor mats made of vulcanized rubber havebeen used very commonly.

`These floor mats of vulcanized rubber are usually made in. one-piecehaving the shapeA of the floor of the .operator compartment and 2 5being provided with various apertures adapted to accommodate theoperating mechanism of the car. These vulcanized rubber mats are usuallylaid in position on the floor of the car and are often not secured inany manner although in some instances some means of securing the matsuch as" snap buttons have been employed, but `not with completelysatis- -factory results v The types ci floor construction at present inuse in automobiles have .a number of objectionable features. In order-toclean the ioor of the operator. compartment it has been necessary toremove the fioor mat and clean it and the wood Hoor separately. Due

'jectionable feature of the present type ofautomobile oor is that themat, especially 5 in the type where no securing. means for the to theconstruction of the operating mecha- A mat is used, often works aboutthe operating pedals of the automobile in such a manner as to interferewith the proper operation thereof. Inasmuch as the usual Hoor board ismade of wood, there is a tendencyv of such a floor to squeak due to thetwisting or wearing of the automobile while in operation, even thoughthe boards may be tightly secured to the frame. This squeaking comesfrom the rubbing of the wood surfaces at their points of contact.Furthermore, the securing means for the floor boards often Work loosewith the result that the wood floor boards rattle in contact with theframe of the automobile and with each other. Inasmuch as it isimpossible in practice to fit the floor boards together perfectly,cracks, sometimes' of conv siderable size, often occur between theboards and betweeen the boards and the automobile dy which permit aninflow of air therethrough which carries dust and dirt into the interiorof the car and tends to create drafts. Another objection t'o the presenttype of construction of fioor board is that there are two assemblyoperations involved in applying the same inasmuch as the boards must belaid first and the mat laid thereover and this doub le assemblyoperation is expensive in pres- Y 'ent day automobile manufacturingprocesses where several hundred automobiles a day, and often more,usually are built.l

It is the object of the invention to provide a new automobile Hoorconstruction in which it is unnecessary to wash the surface material andthe Hoor boards separately, in, which the removal of the Hoor boards isordinarily unnecessary but when necessary is not attended with thetroublesome task of removing a Hoor mat first, in which-the coveringmaterial for the o'or members cannot work about the operating pedals or'interfere with the operation of the same. It 'is'also the obiect of ourinvent-ion to provide an automobile oor in which the possibility ofsqueak duel to the rubbing of adjacent parts of oor boardsis eliminatedand in which the danger of rattling due to loosened Hoor boards iseliminated and drafts. and dirt are more perfectly excluded. It is alsothe object ofthe invention to provide a door board which may 10 beassembled in one operation and which is unitary 'in constructineliminating parts, such as aluminum headings and the like.

Without intending to limit more than is required by theprior art andwith the embodiment disclosed in mind, the invention, broadly stated,consists in a number of units, each unit being made up of asubstantially rigid4 member covered with rubber which preferably. isvulcanized in contactwith the member. The units are constructed seas to'interfit and form a complete door and the units are provided as requiredwith apertures to"` accommodate the operating mechanism my("pfedals,levers, etc.) of the automobile. The units preferably have rubber alongthe edges thereof which eliminates the possibility of squeaking due tothe rubbing of the boards togetherand also have rubber on the bottomside thereof so that if any of the units should work loose while theautomobile is in operation, any'rattling will be prevented by the rubberwhich serveseas. a sound-deadening material.

One embodiment of our invention is described in detail in the followingspeci cation and shown in the, accompanying dravvadaptability tofmoldingwith an attractivel The flooring of this invention may be made invarious shapes and'sizes to meetI the requirements of the job. In thedrawings illustratlng one embodiment of the invention, it

is shown composed of units 1, 2 and 3 each comprising a base 4 ofsubstantially rigid or strain vresisting materiahsuch as wood, and asurfacing coat 5 of any suitable thickness, about as shown, andpreferably of vulcanizable rubber composition'because of itsanti-slipping surface and=either` plain or vari-colored in appearance.The rubber composition covers the top or wearing side of the board 4,the sides and ends of the boards as indicated at 6,: and preferably,butl not necessarily, also the margins of the bottom s1de of the boardsas indicated at 7. Flanges. 8 and 9 of rubber com osition areV lformedintegral with the body o the rubber compositionto cover the cracksbetween the boards, and also between the boards and the frame into whichthey are adapted. to he The boards4 may be provided with apertures forthe various operating parts of the car (foot pedals, .starter, gearshift lever,

etc.) in which event .the jspaces 'so formed are preferably temporarilylilled with metal 'orV4 other blocking material to exclude the .rubbertherefrom, or the boards 4 may bev imperforatein which event, and ifdesired, the molds in which the units are vulcanized may be suitablyshaped to mark the spaces for subsequent aperturing to receive thevarious operating parts of the car in the'drivers compartment.

Flexible elongated ia'nges 11 may be provided wherev convenient as'forinstance at the front of the unit 3, to protect against wear as well asimprove the appearance and close any gap that may be at such locations.The unit 2 meeting'the unit 1 at an angle requires that the flange 8 bevulcanized in the mold so as to normally lie flat against the horizontalunit 1.

In manufacturing flooring` according to this invention, the rigidandstrain resist-ing base members 4, which are preferably of wood, arefirst sheathed with about the right quantity of coating material,vulcanizable rubber composition being preferred, to properly lillout themold when the material 1s .vulcanized or set. The molds are, of course,

machinedl to the desired finished shape of the units. With the member 4and composition 5 assembled in the mold, it is closed and held underpressure-while subjected to an elevated temperature suitable for curingor setting the particular composition employed. lf the. base members orboards 4 have been previously vapertured, and the spaces filled withblocks of metal or other blocking material, these of course, after the Ivulcanization of the assemblage, are removed. The units are thus formedwith their strain resisting, and substantially rigid base members ofwood sheathed with rubber com! osition which has'lbeen vulcanized or set1n direct contact therewith and thereby secured tenaciously in situ andwith substantially no. Waste. lThe finished units may be removed fromthe vulcanizing `mold with facility and .are ready for delivery to theautomobile manufacturer.

Units 1, 2 and 3 are'assembled in position as shown in Fig. 2 and areheld to the frame of the car by a securing means such as bolts and nuts15, suitable'washers being provided thereon. As shown in Fig. 2 when theunits are in assembled position the rubber on the edges thereof arebrought' into contact with each other and with the frame of the car andthe rubber along the margin ofthe lower The units of our floor are'madefrom a suitable rlgid member which preferably is wood (solid or plied)although other materials for instance such artificial woods ascompressed vegetable'ibre may be employed.

4These boards arecovered with a composilside of the units rests upon'the frame 14 of the automobile."

tion which preferably is soft rubber although the sulphur andfiller/content ofthe rubbermay be varied within a wide range. The rubbermay be applied to the boards in the form of a sheet or otherwise asconvenient.A The apertures for the operating mechanlsm of the automobileand for the'fastening means may be cut inthe units, in the usual manner,after the molding and vulcanizing operations are completed. However, ifdesired, the

p openings in the board may be cut prior to the application .of therubber.

It will be observed from the description 0f the invention above setforth that an automobile floor is provided which accomplishes theobjects above set forth. The necessity of removing the floor covering inthe form'of a x mat prior to cleaning the automobile floor or prior toremoving one of the floor boards in order to gain access to themechanism of the car has been eliminated, for with a' .floor of thisconstruction it is nec'essar only to Wash or clean the surface of the'ruber inasmuch as dbris cannot accumuulate beneath the rubber covering.With this construction of v floor the danger of tearing the rubber coverby removal of the same has been eliminated as well as .the danger ofhaving loose parts of as floor mat which interfere with the operation offoot pedals. Also due to the rubber which extends along the edges of theunits as well as along the margin of the under side' of the units alldanger of squeaking due to the rubbing of wood u-pon wood has beeneliminated and all danger of rattling of wood upon wood has also beeneliminated due to the fact that a rubber 4surface is presented at allpoints of contact between the units inter se and between the units andthe frame of the automobile or body parts for supporting" the floor. Inaddition the assembly operation of Patent is 2 our ioor is a simplifiedone inasmuch as itis only necessary to positionthe units in proper placein order to assemble the door of our State of Ohio,

tion between the juxtaposed edges of the members and between the membersand the frame of the vehicle.v f

2. The combination with a vehicle frame comprising supporting elementsfor a floor board subjected to strains and vibrations, of areadily-removable floor board conforming to the' shape of theco-operating supporting frame elements, composed of a plurality of unitsshaped to intert at their juxtaposed edges and to fit the vehicle, eachunit consisting of a rigid member havina layer of vulcanized rubbercomposition ended thereto, said layer covering the wear surface of themember, its edges and the margins of the surface which rest upon theframe of the vehicle so as to provide a cushion of rubber compositionbetween the juxtaposed edges of the members and between the members andthe frame of the vehicle, and a flange of rubber composition carriedthereon and extending over a lcontinguous part.

Signed at Detroit, count of Wa ne, State of Michigan, this 17th day ofecember,

I y WALTER C. KEYS.

Signed at Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga,

this 20th day of December,

i ARTHUR J. BROWN.

invention, the extra step of applyingthe rubber mat thereover beingeliminated with a v v consequentreduction in the cost of assembling.

The tongues of rubber which cover the Ycracks between the units and`between thev units and the adjacent parts of the automobile body serveto prevent the inow of air through such cracks and thereby preventingress of dust, water, and dirt throu h the floor and prevent draftsthrough the oor in the operator compartment.

. For an understanding of the sco e of our invention reference should bema e to the following claims.

Having thus described our intenties, what we claim and desire tepre'tectby Letters 1. The combination with a vehicle frame comprising supportingelements fera door board subjected to strains and vibrations, of

